Runaway Coaches
by DonaldDouglasandToby6
Summary: When Thomas loses track of time, he attempts to make up for lost time on a hill, which sends Thomas, Annie and Clarabel on a high-speed chase.


Thomas the Tank Engine was racing along his branch line into Dryaw, hoping to be on time.

He was nearing the station when he noticed the level crossing gates up ahead were closed.

Gasping in horror, the driver put on the brakes, just in time.

As Thomas opened his eyes, he noticed George the Steamroller starting to cross the level crossing.

"Hey! You can't cross yet! We railway engines have the right of way!"

"Not right now you don't," smirked George with satisfaction, "Right now, I'm on the tracks, so you can't pass."

Thomas seethed with fury.

"It's alright, Thomas," consoled Annie.

"Yes, we'll make up for lost time," said Clarabel gently.

Thomas quickly felt better.

"Thanks you two."

George rolled his eyes as he started to cross the second line.

"Too much happiness," he muttered.

"Well, you're the one making me late!" Thomas retorted.

"I know, and it's fun."

Thomas was so stunned that he couldn't think of a reply as George rolled off the crossing.

"Time to go, puffball," George taunted as he went out of sight.

Thomas gasped as the gates opened up for him.

"Right! Time to go!"

Thomas jerked forward, causing Annie and Clarabel to surge forward and bump into his back bufferbeam.

"Thomas!" Annie huffed, "Be careful! We have passengers, you know!"

Thomas grinned sheepishly.

"Oops... Sorry!"

At last, Thomas arrived at Dryaw.

As the blue engine came to a halt, he looked at the station clock in a hurry.

"Oh no, I'm a couple of minutes late! Get off quickly, please!" Thomas panted.

Daisy purred into the other platform, giggling.

"Hello, Thomas. You getting paranoid again?" she chuckled.

"This is serious, Daisy!" Thomas cried, "If I'm late, the Fat Controller might send Stanley or Charlie in my place!"

"Well, if you're late, you'd be hurry up." snorted Daisy and she scurried away in the other direction.

Thomas hastily looked to the station clock again.

Realizing what time it was, he gasped.

"Get in and out quickly, please!" Thomas cried out hastily.

The passengers got in, got out, and soon, everything was ready.

The guard blew his whistle and Thomas scurried off again.

As Thomas puffed along the line, the coaches started to notice the speed.

"Oh my, you're going very fast!" cried Annie hastily.

"Thomas, slow down, slow down!" agreed Clarabel.

But Thomas was trying to make up for lost time, and was concentrating too hard to listen to his coaches' warnings.

"Mustn't be late! Mustn't be late!" he said to himself.

Between Dryaw and Toryeck, there was a hill.

Thomas charged this hill with a burst of speed, steam pouring from his funnel.

"Slow down! Slow down!" wailed the coaches, "We don't like these speeds!"

But Thomas was determined not to be late again.

As he was trying to make it to the top, Annie felt a strain on her front coupling.

Realizing what this meant, she immediately started to panic, fearful of breaking away.

"Thomas! I think our coupling is loose!" she yelled.

Thomas heard them and went even faster, thinking that they could get over the top and into Toryeck so they could fix the problem.

"Mustn't (pant) be (pant) late." he spluttered.

But instead he only made the issue worse.

Thomas was almost at the top now.

"I can't go much (pant) faster!" panted Thomas, "These people need to get in shape."

Thomas suddenly reached the top; he was deeply relieved.

"Hurrah! Hurrah! I made it! I made it!"

Suddenly, there was a sudden jerk, but Thomas hadn't noticed this.

"Come along!" he puffed with glee, but was surprised to hear no reply.

"Why won't you respond?"

Silence.

"Hello?"

More silence.

"Are you still mad at me for going fast?"

Thomas looked back and saw his coaches rolling down the hill.

"Thomas! Thomas! Help! Help!" cried Annie and Clarabel.

The passengers were surprised, but didn't dare move, fearing that would disrupt the balance and throw them off the rails.

The two coaches rumbled through Dryaw, and quickly past Daisy.

"What the!" exclaimed Daisy as the two coaches zoomed past.

"Heeellp!" they cried.

Daisy was speechless, just as Thomas raced past her.

She tried to connect the dots in her mind, and immediately figured out what had happened.

"I'm not even going to ask." Daisy stuttered.

The coaches' speed gradually slowed as the guard tried to apply the brakes, but suddenly- SNAP!

"Ouch!" exclaimed Clarabel, "My brakes! Help, they're broken!"

"Oooh nooo!" cried Annie as they raced onto the junction to the Main Line.

At Knapford Station, Emily was collecting flour while Gordon was collecting the Express.

Annie and Clarabel raced by, yelling loudly, "Stop us, in some way or form! Stop us!"

Some of the passengers on the platform, quite surprised by the ordeal.

The Stirling Single's jaw dropped.

"...was that Annie and Clarabel?" Emily asked.

"Search me." muttered Gordon.

Thomas panted in, all tuckered out.

He had to stop to gain some strength, if only for a moment of time.

"Goodness me, Thomas! Whatever were you doing?" Emily asked.

"I'm... (pant) chasing... my coaches. They broke away on the hill."

Gordon noticed the blue tank engine puff to the water tower.

"You need a drink, Thomas. You're almost out of water." the driver said, "We'll catch the coaches yet."

Thomas sighed.

"Alright, but make it quick."

Gordon snickered.

"Hello, little Thomas. You look puffed out! I suggest you get a tender. Then you can go longer distances."

"Not now, Gordon!" fumed Thomas, and the driver took the pipe out of his boiler.

Thomas crossly set off, leaving a puzzled Gordon.

"Was it something I said?"

"Most likely. You weren't exactly tactful."

Gordon glared at Emily.

"It's his fault he's sensitive..."

Annie and Clarabel gasped in horror as they soon reached the other junction.

The signalmen quickly switched the points so Annie and Clarabel wouldn't crash.

Paxton gasped and braked, his stone trucks bashing into the back of him.

"What on Earth?!"

Spencer was taking the Duke and Duchess to the station, but when he saw Annie and Clarabel, he braked as well, nearly knocking the Duke and Duchess off their seats.

"You Sudrian coaches!" he snarled.

Thomas groaned as he started through the junction, surprising Paxton and Spencer.

"Thomas?" Paxton asked.

"Silly little tank engine," Spencer huffed.

Thomas ignored them, though a suddenly deep-toned whistle made his boiler run cold.

"That's Caitlin!" Thomas shouted in horror.

Caitlin, who was taking a train to Ulfstead Castle, saw Thomas' bunker and blew her whistle again.

"Thomas?! Clear the track! I have to get through!"

Luckily, the signalman had seen Thomas' predicament as well and switched the points so Thomas would not collide with Caitlin, and then immediately switched them again so Caitlin could get past.

"Wooaaah!" cried Thomas as Caitlin raced by him.

"Thomas isn't usually that reckless!" Caitlin spluttered, "I mean, I'm a high-speed engine! I could've crushed him!"

Thomas had just recovered from his mishap, but realized he was now on the wrong line!

"Oh no!"

Soon, Annie and Clarabel were out in the countryside again, much to their relief.

They scurried right past Henry, who was taking a slow goods to Knapford.

The two coaches weren't as fast now, but they still surprised the green engine as the coaches scurried by, the passengers stuck in their seats.

"Bubbling boilers!" cried Henry, "What was that?!"

Thomas raced by bunker first.

"What's going on, Thomas?" asked Henry worriedly.

"Annie and Clarabel are a runaway, Henry! I've got to stop them!" said Thomas as he disappeared out of sight.

"Good luck with that." muttered Henry.

Thomas panted backwards down the tracks.

He could see the coaches slowing down, but they were still going at the same speed as he was.

Alongside the section of track was a road.

Butch was there on the road, filling up on petrol at the petrol station, when...

"Runaway coaches?" Butch stuttered.

Annie and Clarabel raced by.

"Do something!" cried out Clarabel.

"I can't!" wailed Annie.

"What was that?" cried Butch, just as Thomas raced past.

"Got to keep moving, Butch!"

Butch just stared in Thomas' direction as Thomas puffed out of sight.

"What is it with runaways on this island?" he muttered.

The guard realized that it wasn't helping. "Uh oh..." and the guard jumped clear.

He tumbled onto the sleepers.

"Oh, my darn knee..." grumbled the guard, but luckily he had a red flag and his trusty whistle.

He stood up and ignored his minor injuries for now.

The guard saw an approaching engine.

He blew his whistle long and loud.

Thomas heard the whistle, but didn't stop.

"Thomas? Is that you?" asked the guard as he noticed the familiar engine puff, backwards, toward him.

"Can't stop, guard. You can hop in my cab though!" Thomas insisted.

The guard jumped into the cab while the driver looked out the back window.

The passengers were all worried of when their ride was going to end.

A particular boy was enjoying it.

"Woohoo, this is amazing! It's like those roller coasters, except better!"

"I don't feel well..." groaned Annie and neither did Clarabel; they didn't like traveling by themselves, and their speed wasn't helping matters.

The coaches reached a level crossing where Bertie was about to cross.

Bertie was just edging onto the level crossing.

His driver could see Annie and Clarabel and could hear all the passengers screaming, "Help! Do something!"

"Back, Bertie, back!" cried the driver and Bertie reversed quickly.

Clarabel crashed through the crossing gates.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, "that hurt!"

The force didn't stop the coaches, but they did slow down further.

"What the-" said Bertie when Thomas raced past.

"Care for a race, Thomas?"

"Not now!" cried Thomas, "I've got to catch up to my coaches!"

"Never mind, then... Perhaps another time!" Bertie said cheerfully.

Thomas just snorted.

Meanwhile, James was passing the Washdown, glancing at the soaps and suds longingly.

"Oh, how I wish I could get this quarry dust off my paintwork... But alas, it isn't evening yet..."

He sighed.

"I also wish I didn't have to take these blasted goods to Tidmouth but, what can you really do?"

"Pleaase, stop us!" shouted a feminine voice.

James stared in confusion as he noticed Annie and Clarabel coming towards him on the other track.

"Huh?"

"Thomas is heading your way, James!" Annie shouted.

"What?!"

Thomas looked back and gasped once again.

"James!"

"Thomas!"

"Why are you shouting names?" asked Clarabel as the coaches clattered past the red engine.

"I don't know; I can't think of anything else to do!"

"Oh."

"Oh sweet criminy!" shouted the signalman, and he immediately switched the points for Thomas.

He swerved past James, back onto Annie and Clarabel's track.

"Yes!"

However, James was furious.

"What is this, the third or fourth time I nearly ran into a runaway? Huh! Typical..."

Harvey the Crane Engine was shunting some trucks at Crosby when Annie and Clarabel were racing towards the station.

"Annie! Clarabel! What are they doing?" cried Harvey to himself.

He squinted and could make out a blue tank engine puffing towards the station.

"Thomas? Looks like a runaway!" Harvey muttered.

He raced onto Annie and Clarabels' line.

Clarabel noticed Harvey coming towards them, and paled.

"Harvey?! What are you doing?!" she cried.

"It's not worth it!" added Annie.

"It is worth it in my book!" replied the crane engine.

"Wait, what book-"

Clarabel banged into Harvey, causing Harvey to jerk backward.

"Ouch again! This trip will scratch my paintwork!" groaned Clarabel.

Harvey grunted as his driver applied the brakes.

Sparks flew and wheels squealed against the rails.

Finally, Annie and Clarabel gradually came to a final halt.

The coaches let out a sigh of relief as they gained their breath back.

"Thank you, Harvey." panted Annie.

"Yes, Harvey. Thank you." added Clarabel.

Harvey grinned.

"I couldn't just leave your passengers like that."

The passengers were shaken, but were also very relieved, possibly more so than the coaches.

Annie was suddenly banged into Clarabel, who banged into Harvey.

"Ouch! What's going on this time?" Clarabel groaned.

Annie smirked.

"Oh, hello Thomas! Nice to see you!"

Thomas was so exhausted he could barely talk, but saw that Annie and Clarabel had been stopped.

He let out a tried sigh as he was coupled up to Annie using his own back coupling.

"Phew, thanks Harvey! I thought I was going to have to chase them all the way to Crovan's Gate!" panted Thomas gratefully.

"It's no problem, Thomas! I just happened to be at the right place at the right time!"

The guard quickly ambled down from Thomas' cab and climbed into Clarabel.

"Um... excuse me, sir?" asked a woman.

"Yes?"

"Are you sure this train is safe? He is the one who let us become a runaway."

The guard sighed.

"Don't worry, this won't happen again. This is a very safe railway. Thomas will make sure of it." he said.

He leaned out the window.

"Right Thomas...?" he yelled.

Thomas sighed, feeling guilty.

"Of course sir."

Clarabel and Annie giggled.

"Good. Now let's move along." said Annie.

"Rght... We don't want any more incidents." Thomas agreed.

The guard blew his whistle and puffed away to Toryeck as originally scheduled.

Then, the guard ordered a new coupling on his phone for Annie while the ride continued.

Thomas panted along the line, hoping the Fat Controller wouldn't be too cross.

This time, when he went over the hill, he made sure to go slower so Annie and Clarabel wouldn't break away again.

The sun was much lower in the sky by the time Thomas arrived at Toryeck.

Thomas groaned as he noted that a familiar figure was standing on the platform, and he did not look happy.

The tank engine finally came to a standstill and the Fat Controller began his lecture.

"Thomas! Why on Earth are you so late? You should have been here a couple of hours ago!" he said sternly.

"I'm sorry, sir, but it's a bit of a long story."

"Explain then... Please make sure you're telling the truth."

"Well, first George held me up at the level crossing, so I had to move quickly to keep to my timetable. But I suppose Annie's coupling was weak, and it. snapped on the hill, and Annie and Clarabel ran away! I had to chase them through Knapford and even the Crosby Tunnel. Luckily, Harvey was at Crosby stopped them."

The Fat Controller wanted to believe Thomas, but he wanted someone to confirm the story.

"Is this true?" he asked the coaches.

"You wouldn't believe it sir," sighed Annie, "But it was..."

"Unfortunately..." groaned Clarabel, "My poor buffers..."

"And my poor axles..."

The Fat Controller nodded, then turned back to Thomas.

"I see... Well, you should have been more careful, Thomas."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." said Thomas sadly.

The guard blew his whistle and Thomas set off for Elsbridge.

That night, Thomas was the last one to puff into Ffarquhar Sheds.

The engines teased him about the day's events.

Thomas thought they were quite silly, but he figured he sort of deserved it.


End file.
